Uncle Gong took Zhou Qi and walked towards the palace in the city.

The water is long, and the heavy rain has fallen all night, but it is not long, and there are only many cultivators up and down, flying back and forth.

Zhou Qi looked at the monks coming and going in the air, there were swordsmen with imperial sword screens, fairies with fairy postures, monks with solemn appearances, and more monks in strange costumes and black smoke beasts.

Zhou Qi didn't have a reason to think that Zhou Li was squatting in the yard like a fool and watching the busy scene of ants coming and going, and couldn't help laughing.

When the surrounding monks heard the laughter, they turned their eyes to Zhou Qi's side, but after seeing the terrifying old man in the palace, they hurriedly looked away and just ignored it.

Uncle Gong said gently to Zhou Qi: "In the previous year's Qiulan Festival, there were not so many small outcrops in this cloud, after all, there were many righteous people in that big sect, so it was inevitable that he would kill a few demons and evil ways to strengthen his own reputation." ”

Seeing that Zhou Qi was puzzled, he said: "There is a big event in Lingnan this year, the so-called immortal road high cultivation, Buddhism and great virtue, all go over there, as for what happened, the son will know after returning home." ”

Zhou Qi stopped talking, Uncle Gong sped up, and the two came directly to the palace.

The old man straightened his clothes and saluted Zhou Qi respectfully: "The prince is waiting in the study, and he asks the second son to go quickly." ”

The porter had already diligently opened the vermilion door with nine rows and seven rows of brass nails, and Zhou Qi was full of helplessness, walking quickly towards the backyard study with doubts and expectations.

Zhou Qi hurriedly walked for a full quarter of an hour before he walked along the corridor to the front of Zhou Zhenliu's study, and without knocking on the door, he pushed open the door and walked in.

In the room, Zhou Zhenliu was wearing a white robe, and he was in a daze with his negative hand on the portrait of Li Wanyun on the wall.

Holding a wine jug in one hand and a green umbrella in the other, he stood under the laurel tree, with bright eyes and bright teeth, and a clever smile.

Zhou Qi didn't care about him, Dama Jindao leaned back on the spacious Taishi chair made of golden silk nanmu behind the desk, poured himself a cup of tea, and tasted it slowly.

After a long time, Zhou Zhenliu seemed to come back to his senses, turned to look at Zhou Qi, closed the door slowly, stood in front of the desk, and looked at Zhou Qi quietly.

Although Zhou Qi was used to his father's zombie face, he only felt uncomfortable after being stared at like this for a long time. Immediately stood up in a proper manner, put the crooked chair upright, bowed, and said, "The child greets his father." ”

There was still no movement for a long time, Zhou Qi raised his head slightly, glanced at it quietly, and saw that Zhou Zhenliu was still standing in place with his hands and staring at himself.

simply straightened up and said aggrievedly: "You won't beat me, right?" Although it is natural for Lao Tzu to beat his son, I am so old......"

Only then did Zhou Zhenliu look away and slowly walked towards the Taishi chair.

Following Zhou Zhenliu's footsteps, Zhou Qi moved step by step, keeping a distance from Zhou Zhenliu.

Until Zhou Zhenliu sat down on the chair, Zhou Qi was already standing in front of the desk where Zhou Zhenliu was standing.

Zhou Zhenliu didn't care about him, picked up the half cup of tea that Zhou Qi had drunk and glanced at it, and splashed it into the camellia pot outside the window.

Only then did he say flatly: "Those few gentlemen in Beijing have already left the city, and a few hours later, they were intercepted and killed by bandits, and a group of them died in the barren mountains." ”

Zhou Qi just bowed his head and said, "The child knows that he is wrong." ”

Zhou Zhenliu said to himself: "Fourteen years ago, your mother just gave birth to your two brothers, and she followed me to this southern Xinjiang. At that time, southern Xinjiang was still a place where people's livelihood withered, the people were hungry, their clothes were difficult to cover, demons gathered in the mountains and forests, stealing gods, witches and goddesses, superstitious demons and ghosts, and intimidated the people. ”

"When the people are sick, they do not ask the doctor but the priest, and whenever there is a natural disaster, they sacrifice the boys and girls for peace, and your mother is heartbroken."

Zhou Qi was silent, he naturally knew about these past events, and when he heard it again at this time, he still had mixed feelings in his heart.

"At this time, there were villains in the court who slandered, and the emperor ordered me to move my family back to Jingzhou. I wrote a book to explain the affairs of southern Xinjiang, although the children of the Ji family are mediocre and ignorant, they still have a bit of righteousness in their hearts, and they ask the government and the opposition about the crime. ”

Zhou Zhenliu opened his mouth calmly and slowly said about the past: "It's funny to say, none of the Manchu civil and military affairs are loyal and good, and they all return to the emperor, saying that the world is peaceful, and they falsely accuse me of lying and causing trouble to the government and the opposition, intending to resist the decree and refuse to return to Beijing." So the little emperor sent a dog official to southern Xinjiang with a decree to investigate. ”

"At that time, many officials in southern Xinjiang were in cahoots with demons and witches, and after this dog official came to southern Xinjiang, the local officials were hospitably entertained, and they really thought that southern Xinjiang was really peaceful, and they wanted to write a letter to return to it, but at night, your mother personally sneaked into the residence of this dog official and took him captive."

"When the dog officer saw me, he was terrified. I took him with me for a few days, and walked with the people of southern Xinjiang to see the livelihood of the people in southern Xinjiang. This dog official is born in the cold door, and he still has a little conscience, after changing his mind, he has been sobbing and sobbing for decades, only looking up to see the temple lofty, painstakingly drilling camp, and now he looks down and sees purgatory in the world, and he does not want to live in vain. ”

So he resolutely returned to Beijing, wrote the blood of what he had seen and heard in southern Xinjiang in Bai Aya, said that the disaster of witches in southern Xinjiang and the difficulties of the people's livelihood were difficult, accused the Manchu Dynasty of traitors, and advised the little emperor to make every effort to govern the country and start with the people. After the book, Bai Aya has used three zhang, the blood book has passed 10,000 words, the dog official fainted from excessive blood loss, almost died, and disappeared from the government and the opposition that night. ”

The more Zhou Qi listened, the more wrong he became, and when he looked at Zhou Zhenliu, he saw that he was still expressionless, but he paused faintly on the word "dog official", and a strange light flashed in his eyes.

It wasn't until I heard the last well-known blood admonition Ayashu public case that I suddenly realized: Isn't this "dog official" his mentor, the Confucian Zhang Ziqing who was posthumously named the prince and young master by the emperor of the Ji family after leaving the dynasty?

At the moment, I watched my nose and nose, and silently scolded my father in my heart, you two are not ashamed to make trouble, if you want to scold, scold, why are you holding me?

Just as Zhou Qi was secretly glad that he didn't interject, in a private school in the north of the city, Zhang Ziqing was stroking his beard to teach, and inadvertently pulled off several of his beards.

……

Seeing Zhou Qi's cowardice, Zhou Zhenliu didn't care about him, and said to himself: "A few months ago, on the shore of the Beihai Sea in Lingnan, a stone tablet appeared, and it was not moved, and it could not be hurt, and the Lingnan Jing Demon Division came to report, saying that the demons and evil ways of Lingnan had surged, and the monks of the three religions poured in in groups, and in less than half a month, the people of Lingnan suffered a great disaster, with hundreds of thousands of casualties, and the number of displaced people in the surrounding states, prefectures, and counties increased dramatically. ”

Zhou Qi stood solemnly, standing straight, Zhou Zhenliu didn't wait for him to speak, and said: "At present, the Lingnan Division Tianjian and the Jing Demon Division have stabilized the situation, but the people in the three sects are still plotting for immortal fate in Beihai.

"Lingnan belongs to southern Xinjiang, even if it is under the jurisdiction of my Annan Palace, the people of Lingnan will be counted as my people, you are my son and have grown up, so go to Lingnan on my behalf and settle this matter."

After that, without waiting for Zhou Qi to answer, he threw out a green jade token, and Zhou Qi hurriedly caught it.

Looking closely, I saw a lifelike picture of the unicorn playing on one side, and the word Annan was carved on the other side of the dragon flying and phoenix dancing.

"This is my token, when you arrive in Lingnan, the three divisions of Lingnan Buzheng, Jicha, and Jing Demon will secretly fully cooperate with you, needless to say, and go by yourself." As soon as the voice fell, Zhou Qi had been thrown out of the door.

Zhou Qi got up, touched his nose, bowed sincerely to the study, patted his butt and walked towards the outside of the house.

In the study, Zhou Zhenliu quietly looked at the portraits on the wall, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

……

Zhou Qi met Uncle Gong who was waiting there at the gate of the palace, the old man wanted to go out of the city to do business, worried that he would not be able to say goodbye to Zhou Qi, and he chattered for a while, and he couldn't wait to even bring a few pairs of dirty pants on the road.

By the time Zhou Qi left the palace, it was almost noon.

Zhou Qi made a headache, but a burst of warmth flowed in his heart, bathed in the noon sun, and slowly walked towards the Mengxue private school in the city.

This private school was run by Zhou Qi'en teacher Zhang Ziqing, and was advanced by wealthy businessmen in the city to build a square white-walled and blue-tiled courtyard in a secluded place in the north of the city, with a pond on its back, and willows and warblers.

Among them, the main hall is equipped with twenty or thirty sets of tables and chairs, which is the classroom, and the side rooms on the left and right sides are Mr. Zhang's kitchen and study, where the guests sleep.

Most of them were poor at home, and their parents could not afford to provide for their education, so they prepared some grains and vegetables, agricultural groceries, and sent them to Mr. Zhang to ask him to enlighten his children; There is also a solid family, and when I heard that Mr. Zhang was doing well in school, he gave money and sent the child into it.

Mr. Zhang did not refuse to come.

When Zhou Qi arrived, the Mengtong in the private school had already gone home for dinner, only two little beans held their palms, and there were two strings of big tears on their meaty little faces, they wanted to cry but didn't dare to make a sound, and they walked out aggrieved.

When Leng Buding saw Zhou Qi, he hurriedly wiped away his tears and snot with his sleeves, and choked up and gave a salute: "Brother Zhou Qi is good!" ”

Zhou Qi took out a handkerchief, squatted down to wipe the faces of the two little beans clean, and said with a smile: "What trouble did you two little naughty people make Mr. angry again?" ”

The two little beans didn't dare to sue their husband at the door, and the two naughty friends in the private school skipped class last time, and made up a nursery rhyme to laugh at the widow's Ah Hua on the street, and Mr. heard it in class.

At that time, he went to the street to arrest the two and punished them for copying the "Disciple Rules", and I heard that they had not finished copying it for several nights.

In the end, the two of them were beaten by their father and mother and limped, and they went to apologize to Ah Hua and the mother, and Mr. let the two continue to study.

He could only be aggrieved and said: "It's not good for us to catch grasshoppers and play in class." ”

The other hastened to follow: "Sir, we know that we are wrong. ”

Zhou Qi smiled and rubbed his two fleshy little faces: "Knowing mistakes can be changed, and kindness is great." ”

He stuffed two copper plates into the hands of one of the two little beans, and said, "Since you know that you are wrong, my brother will reward each of you with a string of sugar gourds to eat." ”

The two little beans immediately smiled, and gave a formal salute before jumping and running down the street.

Zhou Qi smiled and watched the two little beans run to the corner of the street, and then slowly walked into the courtyard.

In the small courtyard, a path made of fine pebbles no more than three feet wide leads straight to the door of each house, and the rest is loess, near the side of the kitchen, surrounded by a bamboo fence, and two rows of bitter herbs are planted inside.

Outside the living room and study, some common flowers and plants are planted, and although it is autumn, they are still growing luxuriantly.

A small courtyard, well kept, gives a sense of harmony.

Through the propped up window, Zhou Qi saw Zhang Ziqing rolling up his sleeves and choosing vegetables in the kitchen, with a piece of tofu on the board and a pot full of rice boiling on the stove.

Zhou Qi gave a salute in the courtyard and said, "Zhou Qi visits Mr." ”

didn't wait for an answer, so he got up straight and walked to Zhang Ziqing's side and chose dishes with him.

After choosing the dishes, Zhang Ziqing smiled and pointed to the pot full of rice in the copper pot on the stove, and said, "I knew you were coming, so I cooked more rice." ”

Zhou Qi only smiled slightly, and was about to speak, but saw Zhang Ziqing walking into the courtyard with the water from washing the vegetables, and carefully watering the two rows of bitter vegetables that had not yet grown.

Zhou Qi naturally picked up the kitchen knife, broke the tofu into cubes, and set up the pot to make oil.

First, the green vegetables are fragrant by high fire, and then a scoop of water is put in until the water boils, then the tofu cubes are put in and sprinkled with a handful of finely chopped oil residue.

When Zhang Ziqing came back with an empty basin, a pot of stewed tofu with green vegetables was already bubbling out of the fragrance, the soup was milky white, verdant and rolling, very gratifying.